A RENEGADE graffiti artist is to blame for Wicked Campers vehicles in Cairns painted with offensive slogans, the company's owner says. Are you offended? Have your say.

A reader of The Cairns Post called to complain about the expletive “mother------” painted on the side of a van at the Wicked Campers office on Sheridan St.

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Other readers saw a Wicked Campers vehicle driving around with a sexist slogan telling women to “shut up and open their legs”.

“That’s terrible,” Wicked Campers owner-director John Webb said when contacted by The Cairns Post.

“There’s no way in the world I’d allow that on a van.”

Mr Webb said the company had been cleaning up its image over the past two years and had fired a graffiti artist who was painting offensive slogans on vehicles.

“Some of the offensive stuff is OK but not all of it. No f-words and nothing degrading to women is allowed,” he said.
Premier Anna Bligh told the Brisbane-based company, which has a fleet of 900 vehicles popular with backpackers, to “tone down” some of its “disgusting” slogans two years ago.

Mr Webb said he hadn’t had any recent complaints about its vehicles and the company was compiling an inventory of photographs depicting slogans on each vehicle.

New vans were being painted with indigenous art work and Mr Webb promised that the offending vehicles in Cairns would be repainted.

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